Shield High
by Sarcastic pistachio
Summary: An Avengers Highschool AU in which the students of Shield high have a few more secrets than they let on. Main pairing: BuckyNat other side pairings Clint/Natasha brOTP
1. Chapter 1

Bucky leaned his head against the window of the bus as he counted down the time left until he reached New York. Only about two hours had passed since he left which meant there was still a good five hours during which he could do nothing but stare at the slow moving traffic progressing down the highway.

Bucky was on his way to live with his cousin Steve, in Brooklyn. His parents were both military so Bucky was used to moving around a lot but after his father got restationed in Japan, he put his foot down. He only had two years of highschool left, and he was _not_ going to spend it a totally different country where he knew absolutely no one. After a lot of begging and pleading, he finally convinced his parents to let him stay with Steve and his mom so he could finish highschool in one place.

Getting to go to the same school as Steve was just an added bonus. The two cousins had known each other since they were kids and were close enough to be brothers. Bucky was actually pretty excited about seeing him again but unfortunately, he still has another five hours to kill before Steve would pick him up at the bus drop-off.

Bucky let out a sigh and stuffed his earbuds into his ears. Just a few more hours.

* * *

"Hey kid, are you getting off or not?"

Bucky blinked the sleep from his eyes and quickly took in his surroundings. The bus was stopped and all the other passengers had gotten off.

"Yeah, sorry I'm getting off now." He quickly grabbed his suitcase from the compartment above his head and hurried off the bus. The second his feet hit the sidewalk he heard a voice calling for him.

"Bucky! Bucky! Over here!" He turned to see Steve, jumping up and down and waving his hands excitedly from across the street. Bucky smiled to himself and grabbed his things off the floor, crossing the street to go meet his cousin.

"Hey Steve-o! Calm down. We don't you having an asthma attack in the middle of the street.", he said before wrapping the shorter blond in a hug.

"Sorry", Steve replied with a sheepish smile. "I'm just really excited and now you get to stay with us for a whole two years! But you're probably really tired from your trip and my mom is waiting for us so we should probably start driving back now."

The two boys loaded Bucky's thing into the trunk of Steve's old car and began driving back to his house.

"So are you nervous about joining Shield High?"

"Nervous?" Bucky laughed from the passenger seat, "Why would I be nervous? It's hardly my first time switching schools, besides I have you with me this time. It'll be great, I'll even help you get a few dates by the end of the year."

Steve's cheek grew red at the last part before his expression turned more serious. "I just meant that... y'know with your arm and all... you might be feeling a bit worried..", he trailed off and Bucky let out a soft sigh.

A few years ago when he had been visiting Steve one summer, there was an accident. The two boys had been walking home from the pool in the evening when a drunk driver came swerving out of nowhere. Bucky had managed to push Steve out of the way but before he had the chance to move the car had slammed into him, both him and the driver colliding with a tree.

The car had pinned his left arm and he ended up losing the arm because of the crash. For a long time Bucky had been worried he'd be stuck doing everything one handed but then his father had told him about someone who could help. Because his father held such a high military position, he worked with a lot of smart people including a huge weapons dealing company that supplied the military.

The owner of the company was some sort of genius, and had designed a new arm for Bucky, made completely out of a shiny sliver metal. It was shaped and functioned exactly like a normal arm. He supposed they could have made it _look _normal too, but he was already getting more than he was asking for and he thought it best not to push.

He was given a one of kind, fully functioning, cybernetic arm and that was the end of that.

Of course people were still prone to staring but at least he had two working arms now.

"Relax Steve. I can handle a little staring besides this is better than the alternative. If anyone gives me any crap, I'll let them feel a left hook and then we'll see if they try to bother me again.", he said casting a wide grin at the blond.

"Yeah, you're right.", Steve said, pulling the car into the driveway of a tiny blue house at the end of the street. Together they carried Bucky's things and hurried inside.

"Hey mom, we're back!", Steve called, shutting the front door.

His mom stepped out into the tiny entrance hallway with a smile. Sarah Rogers was a small, beautiful woman, with straight blonde hair identical to Steve's. The mother and son were not only similar in looks but in personality. Sarah had always taught the boys since they were young to stick up for what was right and to have each others backs, in a way she was almost a second mom to Bucky.

"Hey, Aunt Sarah!", Bucky said, dropping his bags on the floor and enveloping her in a hug. "It's so good to see you Bucky. Wow, you're already taller than me!.", she laughed. "Why don't you two take your stuff upstairs. You have to get up early tomorrow so try and get some sleep, okay?"

They both said goodnight to Steve's mom and ran up the stairs. "You still remember where the guest room is?"

"It hasn't been _that_ long Steve."

"Right, sorry. Well, I'll let you get some sleep then, we'll leave tomorrow morning around 7 and I can introduce you to everyone."

Bucky said goodnight to Steve and then settled into bed, not bothering to unpack anything. He couldn't sleep though, something felt different.

_Was he nervous?_ No, that couldn't be it. He already told Steve he had nothing to worry about. He's changed schools before. _But then again, this would be the first time meeting Steve's friends. _Bucky let out a sigh and closed his eyes. He could worry about it tomorrow morning.

The next morning Bucky still hadn't gotten rid of the strange feeling of nervousness that he was feeling. He followed Steve out of the parking lot and up the steps of Shield High.

Suddenly a flash of red flew past Bucky as a girl hurried up the stairs. She paused for a second to look back and tossed a quick "Hey, Steve", over her shoulder. Steve raised a hand to wave but the girl was already turned back around, weaving her way through a crowd of students.

Bucky turned towards his cousin, momentarily awestruck. "Who was that?"

"That's Natasha."

* * *

**AN: Hey everybody, thanks for reading. I hoped you liked it. Please leave a review if you feel like it and let me know what you think so far.**


	2. Meeting the Friends

"Who's Natasha?"

Steve turned to glare at Bucky.

"Not happening Bucky."

"What?", Bucky said, raising his hands in defense, "All I did was ask who she was!"

"You're only asking because you want to ask her out, which isn't going to happen.", the blond replied as he dragged Bucky through the crowd towards the main office.

"Why exactly isn't that going to happen?"

"Natasha is... complicated. She's kind of a loner but she's also kind of not. She doesn't really talk to anybody outside our group of friends and her best friend Clint."

That caught Bucky's attention and he grabbed Steve's arm, pulling him aside to the edge of the hallway. "Wait a minute, you're friends with her? That means you can introduce us!"

"If I say yes, will you hurry up and go to the office so we can get your schedule before first period?"

Bucky let out a little noise of triumph before hurrying after Steve.

He looked over at the case of trophies in the office while Steve got his schedule from the secretary, .

"Alright Buck, here's your schedule. You'll have to make it through the first two periods alone but after that you should have classes with me or my friends for the rest of the day. I'll introduce you to all of them at lunch.", he said, handing him a piece of paper.

Bucky was still engrossed with staring at all the trophies and awards adorning the shelves. "Man, what kind of school is this? You guys have awards for everything, state archery champs, engineering and robotics, chemistry, gymnastics. Is there anything you guys don't win?"

Steve just shrugged and began dragging Bucky out of the office. "The students here are pretty dedicated. Most of them excel in some sort of extracurricular which is why they're here in the first place.

Ok, so this is my homeroom. I'll wait for you outside the cafeteria before lunch."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it Mom."

"Jerk."

"Punk."

After making it through his painfully boring first two classes, Bucky finally made his way to the cafeteria.

Steve was leaning against the wall, to keep his massive backpack from tipping over his tiny frame.

"Hey Buck, ready to meet everyone?"

"I guess so."

Steve threw him a sideways glance.

"Well don't sound too excited. I promise they're all really nice... Well mostly nice."

Bucky let out a snort. "Thanks for the reassurance. C'mon, let's do this", he said, giving Steve a light shove so he could lead the way to the table.

Steve stopped at a table where 3 people were seated. One was a stocky blond boy with long hair down to his shoulders. The guy looked like he was going to crush the tiny plastic chair he was sitting on.

To his left was another guy, with dark brown curls with blacked framed glasses perched on his nose. He had a chemistry textbook open on the table in front of him and seemed... Oddly mellow.

The last person at the table was a tall strawberry blonde girl, her freckled face set deep in concentration as he scribbled in a notebook.

"Hey guys", Steve said, seeming to break them all out of their reveries.

The girl and the brunet boy simply waved and glanced at Bucky with curiosity but the blond stood up to clap Steve on the back, voice booming "Greetings friend! I take it today is the day we finally get to meet the cousin you have spoke so fondly of!"

"Yeah, so guys this is my cousin Bucky. Bucky this is Thor, Bruce, and Pepper."

He noticed Bucky's attention still fixed on the hulking blond beside them and said, "Thor is a transfer from Scandinavia. He and his brother moved here last year."

That explained the guy's ancient way of talking.

Pepper, who appeared to be finished with the notes she had been furiously rewriting and took the opportunity to introduce both herself and Bruce. "Well as you heard, I'm Pepper Potts, president of the student council, honor society, and the Tony Stark damage control club."

Bucky raised an eyebrow at the last one but let her continue nonetheless.

"And Bruce here is our resident genius #2 and the owner of all those chemistry and science fair awards you probably saw in the office."

Bruce blushed a little a offered Bucky a shy smile.

"Well its nice to meet you guys. Uh, is this everybody? Steve kind of made sound like there was more of you", Bucky said, looking around.

"Oh, there is", Steve replied, " Thor's girlfriend Jane will probably join us whenever Darcy manages to get her out of the science labs. Tony's around here somewhere and Clint and Natasha sort of just come and go as they please. They might be in the cafeteria, they might be on the roof somewhere... no one really knows."

Bucky wasn't really sure how to respond to that but luckily he didn't have to. Two girls and boy sat down at the table. One of the girls sat beside Thor and greeted him with a kiss, so he figured she must be Jane.

"Wow Steve, you tell us your cousin was so hot."

Everyone turned to face to the girl sitting next to Jane, who simply shrugged, "What? He is. Anyway this is Jane and I'm her personal assistant Darcy. Totally single in case you were wondering."

Bucky didn't know how he was being rendered speechless so many times in one lunch period.

"Dude, what is up with your hand?", the dark haired boy said, leaning across the table to look at Bucky left hand which was peeking out from under his sweatshirt.

"Tony! Don't be rude!" Pepper smacked him in the back of his head but he didn't even flinch.

"I'm not being rude Pep, I'm being... scientifically curious. But seriously man why is your hand made out of metal?"

Bucky leaned back as Tony reached for his arm. He couldn't handle people staring and asking questions about it, but it was another thing completely when they tried to touch it.

"Back off, Tony", Steve piped up from his side.

"It's fine Steve. I uh, I lost my arm in car accident a few years ago. My dad knew a guy who made me a new prosthetic one."

"So your entire arm is made out of metal?!"

Bucky was starting to see why they needed a damage control club for Tony.

"Uh, yeah I think they called it a cybernetic or bionic prosthesis... Or something like that."

Tony's expression became oddly guarded as he closed his mouth. Bucky was going to ask what was wrong when two more people approached the table.

Natasha took the empty seat next to Pepper and started up a conversation after a nodding hello to the table.

The short blond boy next to her, put a little more effort into greeting everyone before turning to pull out his lunch from bag.

"Friends! It is wonderful of you to join us today. Steve's cousin Bucky has finally arrived to our schooling establishment!", Thor boomed from across the table.

Clint looked up from where he was splitting half his lunch with Natasha as they both stopped to look at him.

Bucky felt everyone's eyes on him as he introduced himself.

"Uh yeah, I'm Bucky."

"Clint Barton, archery team captain, best sense of humor in the whole school", Clint said. He shot Bucky a goofy grin, which almost contrasted with his sharp blue eyes.

"Natasha Romanoff.", she said simply before turning back to her lunch.

Conversation flowed easily for the rest of lunch as Steve's friends asked him about his old school and what he thought of the new one.

He tried to think of something to say to Natasha, but he seemed to be lacking his usual harm, and she really only initiated conversations with Pepper and Clint who were directly on either side of her.

Eventually the bell rang and everybody scattered.

"Ok, we have science next which is always interesting.

"How exactly is science interesting?", Bucky said as he shot Steve an incredulous look.

"Because Bruce, Jane, and Tony are all in that class with us. They're like the scientific geniuses of our group."

Bucky took the seat next to Steve as the teacher began lessons.

"We're doing a lab today so everybody needs to pair up."

Bucky turned to Steve, but a girl was already talking to him, asking to partner up.

"Aww, Steve you're leaving me hanging?"

"Sorry Buck, Peggy asked first", he said with a sheepish smile.

Across the room Tony seemed to be having a similar problem.

"Seriously Bruce? You're ditching me for Jane?"

Jane rolled her eyes at him while Bruce sympathetically patted his arm.

"Sorry Tony but I actually want a good grade on this and no offense but you get sidetracked with your own projects pretty easily."

"But we're science bros!"

"Next time Tony."

" ," the teacher called out, " it seems that you and are the only two without partners so you can work together."

"You're making me work with the human cyborg?"

Bucky was slightly offended but science wasn't his best subject and he figured he was going to need Tony's help so he grabbed his things and walked over to the other table.

"Alright Barnes, let's get this over with", Tony sighed.

"Did I do something to make you dislike me?"

"Are we doing this project or not?", Tony said, blatantly ignoring his question.

Bucky internally groaned. First day and he was already making enemies.


	3. Hydra

"Bucky, wake up!"

"Whaa? I'm up, I'm up!", he groaned, as Steve yanked his blankets off.

"We're suppose to leave in 10 minutes!"

"Wait what?", Bucky shouted jumping out of bed. Sure enough, the clock on the nightstand read 6:50. Second day of school and he was already sleeping in.

"Sorry Steve, you can go eat breakfast, I'll be down in 10 minutes, promise."

Bucky raced to the bathroom, hurriedly brushing his teeth and getting dressed. He ran out the front and hopped in the car where Steve was waiting.

"Here", Steve said, tossing a foil package at Bucky.  
"Poptarts?"  
"Mom keeps a box full of them for when Thor comes over."

Bucky said goodbye to Steve when they reached his homeroom. He must have been extremely tired because he practically slept through his first two classes.

When he went to meet Steve for lunch, he couldn't even make it to the cafeteria because a huge crowd had formed in the hallway.

Bucky could barely see what was going on, until he heard someone say, "I could do this all day." and the telltale sound of someone being shoved against a locker.

Recognizing Steve's voice Bucky quickly began pushing through the crowd, a few people started to chant 'fight, fight,' like the cliche high school idiots that they were.

By the time he made it to the front of the crowd, he had a clear view of what was going on.  
Some lanky, blond kid had Steve pinned up against a locker, a few of his friends were taking turns throwing punches and kicks at him.

Bucky made a beeline for the guy holding Steve, but before he had even had the chance to grab him, someone spun him around and decked him so hard, he flew backwards into Bucky.

He looked up in surprise, to see Natasha standing there, wincing and holding her fist, Clint standing behind her, both of them looking as furious as Bucky felt.

A second passed before all hell broke loose and the guys friends all sprang into action. One of them swung at Natasha who ducked out of the way before Clint tackled the guy. The guy she had punched got up from the floor by Bucky's feet and shoved him backwards toward the crowd.

After that Bucky stopped registering anything but beating up that idiot. He drowned out the cheering of the students behind him, barely noticing Clint and Natasha kicking and swinging off to his left.

Just as Bucky let his left hook slam into the kid's face a voice shouted and everybody froze.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?", Principal Fury yelled, somehow sending a death glare to the majority of the hallway with his one eye.

Most of the students fled the scene pretty quickly, the few who stayed were sent running the second Fury turned to glare at them individually.

That left only the people who were involved in the fight, still frozen where they were standing.

Bucky took a quick glance around and saw Natasha with one hand curled around someones collar, other hand ready to punch. Two guys were off to the side, grabbing onto each of Clint's arms, trying to hold him back. Steve had been unsuccessfully trying to pull one of them off but was being held back by another student by the back of his shirt.

Bucky was still standing over the kid he had punched who was on the ground clutching his bleeding nose.

It was almost as if everyone simultaneously realized the comprising positions they were because they all instantly let go of whoever they were holding and scrambled back to their feet.

It did little to help them seeing as they had already been caught.

"My office. NOW." Fury didn't even have to yell that one, the could all hear the threat in his voice.

The two groups shuffled down to his office and were sat down in chairs outside while Fury went to review the footage.

The nurse was called in to patch up anyone who was injured. It was mostly just the kid who Bucky and Natasha had punched, but neither was sure who had actually broken his nose. The rest of them just had bruises and bloody knuckles.

The two groups sat on separate sides of the office glaring at each other. When the tension got too palpable, forced them all to stop with a glare of her own.

Eventually Fury came back and called the other boys into his office.  
Bucky took the opportunity to question his friends.

"Who were those guys?"

"Johann Schmidt and his idiot friends",Clint muttered.

"Johann is the one you punched in the face", Natasha added in response to Bucky's raised eyebrow.

"The who was kicking me when you got there was Heinz Kruger, his best friend. A few of his friends have already been expelled but it seems if you get rid of one, two more just take their place. They've hated me since I've gone to school here.", Steve sighed while rubbing his ribs.

"You ok Steve?", Bucky asked, having completely forgotten about the reason they started the fight in the first place.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little sore."

A moment later Schmidt and all his friends came out, glaring at them as they passed.

The four remaining students shuffled into Fury's office taking their seats.

"Well", Fury said with a glare, "what do you have to say for yourselves?"

Clint and Natasha remained silent, faces impassive but Steve immediately piped up, "It wasn't any of their faults. I was the one Johann wanted to fight, it was me."

Bucky looked at Steve incredulously. Was he actually trying to take the blame?

"It wasn't even Steve's fault! Those jerks were trying to start a fight. Why are we even in trouble?

Fury swiveled his head, tone becoming angry. "You better watch yourself kid. You broke another students nose with that arm. I have half a mind to consider that a weapon and make you leave it at home."

Bucky paled at that. He wasn't ready to go back to doing things one handed.

"Actually, I think I might have broken his nose. There's actually no way to tell if it was me or him.", Natasha interjected.

Fury placed his head in his hands and mumbled something none of them could understand before looking back at them.

"I have reviewed the footage and here is what I'm going to do. Since Rogers was not the perpetrator here, I'm going to him off the hook. I am also willing to overlook your attitude Barnes, because this your second day here, but make no mistake, if you become a problem in this school, I will not hesitate to suspend you", Fury said, shaking his finger at Bucky.

"Understood." Bucky knew he was being let off easy so he kept his mouth shut.

"As for Romanoff and Barton, because this is the third fight you two have been in this year, I have no choice but to call your parents."

Natasha suddenly looked panicked and Clint burst out, "That's not fair! You watched the video, we didn't even start it. Why don't you punish Schmidt?!"

"Schmidt and his friends have been dealt with accordingly. You're lucking I'm not giving you two immediate suspensions.

Rogers and Barnes, you're free to go."

Steve looked ready to protest again, but Clint just shook his head.

Bucky followed Steve out of the office and back towards the cafeteria.

"Man, this sucks. They shouldn't be in trouble.", Bucky rasped out, kicking his sneaker against the lockers.

"I know Buck, but you heard Fury, they're not getting let off easy this time."

"Have they really been in 2 fights already? This is only the 2nd month of school."

"Yeah, they beat up Schmidt and his friends once before. Thor was with them that time. I don't know what the second one was about."

"Was Schmidt messing with you that time too?"

"Just forget it, Bucky. We shouldn't get involved with him. Rumor has it he's starting his own gang, called Hydra."

"Ugh", Bucky groaned, "Great, that's just what we need."

"Yeah I know. C'mon everyone's probably waiting for us in the lunchroom.

Everyone was waiting for them and began asking questions the second they sat down.

"Where have you two been? Did you really get in another fight with Schmidt?", Tony asked. "Actually, don't answer that. Obviously you were in a fight since both of you look like you got hit by a bus."

"You should have called upon me my friends! I would have gladly joined you in battle against the fiend!", Thor boomed, slamming his fist on the table and drawing a few pointed looks from the surrounding tables.

"We didn't really have the time, Thor."

"Hey, where are Clint and Natasha? Weren't they with you guys?", Bruce asked, ever observant.

"Yeah, but Fury is calling their parents since this isn't their first fight this year.", Steve replied.

"That's terrible. They didn't even start the fight", Pepper said from her seat across from them, "Do you think they'll be able to come to the picnic today?"

"What picnic? You guys are having a picnic in October?", Bucky asked in confusion.

"Yeah, we like to go down to the lake before the weather gets completely freezing and unbearable at least once.", Bruce put in helpfully.

"But it's still a bit chilly, so you might want to stay home. Wouldn't your metal arm to freeze and fall off.", Tony said while popping a fry in his mouth.

"Tony!", Pepper scolded smacking him in the back of the head again and making him choke on his fry.

"Jesus Pep, you gonna kill me for trying to be thoughtful?"

"Just ignore him Bucky. You're more than welcome to join us.", Pepper said sincerely.

"I didn't even realize there were lakes in Brooklyn.", Bucky said.

"Yeah, it's not really a lake. It's more like a really big pond in this clearing in the woods. It's behind some houses and someone put an old picnic table out there so it kind of became our hangout", Steve explained, "I'll text Clint and Nat to see if they can still come."

At the end of the day nobody had seen Clint or Natasha.

"Y'think there coming?" Bucky asked as they drive back to Steve's to get some heavier sweaters.

"Not sure. They're probably grounded, but that hasn't stopped them before."

Sure enough both Natasha and Clint made it to the lake. They were the last ones there, but they still came.

"Hey, you guys are here!", Pepper said, "Did you not get in trouble with your parents?"

Clint let out a snort. "No we did. We both got grounded."

"So how come they let you come?"

"They didn't. My uncle was too drunk to notice, and Clint snuck out."

"But aren't you guys going to be in trouble when you get back?", Pepper asked, voice laced with confusion.

"What are they going to do? Ground me?", Clint laughed and walked over to everybody else, Natasha trailing after him.

"Alright people gather around!", Tony shouted from the edge of the pond. " We are going to have a rock skipping contest so that I can prove to blondie over here," he said, leveling his gaze on Steve, "that this is a matter of physics and it is not 'all in the wrist'. Feel free to join in if you want or just accept the fact that you'll lose to me and go sit on the side."

Everyone but Pepper and Darcy went to pick up a rock from the side.

Thor went first, not fully grasping the idea of 'skipping' the rock. Instead he simply flung it all the way across the pond which Tony then declared made him disqualified.

Bucky and Bruce went at the same time, both of theirs barely moving a foot before dropping in the water with a plop.

"Nice one Barnes," Natasha called out.

"Let the pros show you how it's done.", Tony shouted after her.

He and Steve both skipped their rocks making it halfway across the pond before dropping at the exact same spot.

"Guess it's a tie Tony."

"That was not a tie Rogers! Mine went past yours."

"It doesn't matter. Both of you are going to lose.", Clint called out from behind Natasha.

Natasha went first, her rock easily making it past Tony's while he stood with his mouth agape.

When Clint's rock sailed all the way to the other end, Bucky was surprised Tony's jaw didn't hit the floor.

"How did you do that!", Tony exclaimed.

Clint just smirked. "Its all in the wrist."

The rest of the group made there way back to the table while Pepper consoled Tony.

"Hey what are those two doing?", Bucky asked, pointing at Clint and Natasha who were walking towards the edge of the woods.

"They're probably going to climb a tree.",Darcy said.

"See that red ribbon in the tree in the middle?", Bruce pointed as Bucky nodded. "That's the highest they've gone so far."

"That's more than 25 feet in air!"

"Yeah, we told them its dangerous but they still go up there.", Steve sighed.

"Don't even think about it Barnes, you can't keep up with the wonder twins.", Tony said, walking up behind him.

"Excuse me?"

"No, Tonys right", Jane chimed in, "Even Thor couldn't follow them all the way up."

Well, Bucky never could refuse a challenge. He took off towards the tree ignoring Steve calling from behind him.

He approached the base of the tree looking for handholds. There unfortunately weren't very many.

"What are you doing Barnes?", Clint called from above him, where Natasha and him were perched on a branch.

"I'm coming up!"

"You'll get yourself killed!", Natasha shouted.

"Aww, you worried about me?", he called back. He could practically feel Natasha roll her eyes.

"I marked the path in sharpie. Let's see if you can make it.", Clint called down.

Bucky look around the base of the tree before finding a little black arrow just below a branch.  
Bucky wasn't even sure he could climb with two hands, he had no idea how Clint managed to do it while marking the path with a marker in one hand.

He grabbed onto the branch and swung himself up, following the little black arrows. He kept his eyes on the arrows, making sure he stepping on the sturdiest branches.

Once her reached about three-quarters of the way to Clint and Natasha he made the mistake of looking down.

"Shit!", he exclaimed as he lost his footing, just barely grabbing onto the branch above him with his left hand. At least with the metal hand he didn't have to worry about losing his grip.

He balanced himself again and kept climbing ignoring the shouts of "You idiot!" from both above him and below.

He finally reached the branch where Clint and Natasha were sitting.  
"You gonna scoot over or do I have to push you off?"

Natasha glared at him before nudging Clint and sliding over.

"Well I'm impressed Barnes.", Clint said with a smile, "but you still haven't beaten our record." he said, pointing at the red ribbon above them.

"Thanks, but I've had enough near death experiences today."

"That's too bad Barnes, I thought you might actually be crazy enough to hang with us.", Natasha laughed.

"I'm up in a tree where I could easily plummet to my death. I think that's plenty crazy.  
Why do you guys call me Barnes?"

"Bucky just sounds weird. What is that short for anyway?"

"Buchanan."

Clint started laughing so hard Bucky was worried he might fall off the tree.  
"Seriously man? Buchanan? I thought Clinton was a dumb name but that takes the cake. I see why you go by Bucky now."

" I still think it sounds weird." Natasha said, wrinkling her nose.

"My actual first name is James."

"James? Yeah, thats much better", she grinned.

"So, are you guys really not worried about getting in trouble?"

"Its not a big deal," Clint said, picking at the bark of the tree, "I'm adopted so my parents will just chalk it up to me and my 'family issues'. That's totally fine with me though. I'll be moving out as soon as I turn 18."

"What about you?", Bucky turned to Natasha.

"Like I said, my uncle was passed out drunk when I left so he'll probably still be like that when I get back."

Bucky wanted to ask why she didn't live with her parents, but the mood had turned almost somber , and he was eager to change the subject.

"Did you get those bruises from the fight today?", he asked Natasha, pointing to some purplish marks on her arm.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Guess one of them hit me and I didn't notice."

Natasha remained silent and Clint looked almost angry after that.

Maybe not the best way to change the topic, then.

"Have you guys always lived here?"

"No, I moved here from Russia a few years back. That was when I met Clint."

"Hey that's cool, I actually speak a little Russian. I lived there for about a year. My dad was military we moved a lot."

"I know the feeling I was in the circus before I got adopted.", Clint said.

"Seriously?"

"Where else would I learn to shoot a bow this well? I was the amazing Hawkeye.", he smirked.

"Hey guys, we better get down if we want to get any food before Thor eats it all.", Natasha said, pointing to the table where they were unpacking the picnic basket.

"Not my muffins!" Clint cried before scrambling down the tree. Natasha was quick to follow after him, stepping exactly where he stepped.

"Hey guys, wait for me!", Bucky called, hurrying down the tree. In haste to make it down he slipped about 10 feet from the bottom, and unceremoniously toppled out of the tree.

"Ow."


	4. The First Match

After a month in school, Bucky was finally beginning to feel settled in.

Well, sort of settled in.

Tony was still as sarcastic to him as ever and Bucky had yet to make any meaningful conversation with Natasha after that day in the clearing, but at the very least he had avoided getting into any more fights.

"Y'know Stevie, you're a terrible wingman."

Steve turned away from the TV screen where they had been playing on the play station.

Bucky promptly took the opportunity to kill his player.

"Excuse me?", Steve said, pausing the game a second too late.

"You heard me, you're a terrible wingman. I was counting on you to get me in Natasha's good graces but apparently I'm going to have to do it myself."

"Good luck with that."

"I'm serious man, she's going to have to start a conversation with me eventually. Maybe I can ask her out at Clint's archery competition today."

"Speaking of that, we should probably leave soon if we want to get good seats."

The boys walked across the field to the bleachers where the rest of their friends were waiting.

"Hey guys.", Pepper greeted them from beside Natasha. Tony and Thor were to her right holding a huge banner with 'Hawkeye' written on it, hollering loudly despite the fact that the match hadn't started yet.

Bucky slid in next to Natasha, Steve following in after him.

"Hey, Natasha."

"James."

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"I'm always in a good mood for the first competition of the season. Clint's excitement is kind of contagious."

"Do you think we'll win?", Bucky asked as he watched the team warm up on the field below.

Natasha snorted in response.

"Of course we'll win. This whole school hates losing, that's why our teams only take the best. Besides Clint never misses."

Sure enough, Clint hit every single target perfectly, not missing a single shot.

"Wow you really weren't kidding."

"What?", Natasha said, looking up from her phone. She look slightly worried, pulling at her lip with her teeth and she glanced back at her phone.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I just–"

Her phone buzzed again and she quickly stood up after reading the message.

"I have to go, do me a favor and congratulate Clint for me. I'll see you Monday."

Bucky didn't have time to reply as she hurried down the bleachers.

"Alright people," Tony shouted, "Party at my place to celebrate the first successful match! Everyone's invited, even you Cyborg.", he said looking pointedly at Bucky.

"Hey, where did Natasha go?"

Everyone turned to look at Bucky in question.

"Uh... She said she... Had to leave. Not sure why."

"Huh, that's weird.", Steve said, "She usually stays after for all of Clint's matches. I hope everything is ok."

"I'm sure she's fine.", Jane said.

Bucky wasn't quite as sure.


	5. A Revelation

"Nice job man!", Steve said as Clint caught up with everyone else in the front of the school.

"Yeah, you were great.", added Bruce.

"Thanks guys. Hopefully we'll go undefeated for another year.", Clint replied. His eyes scanned over the group and he quickly notice the absence of his best friend.

"Hey, where's Tasha?"

"She had to leave at the end of the match. She told me to congratulate you for her."

Clint just sighed to himself and shook his head.

"I'm sure she had a good reason for leaving...", Bucky suggested, trying to fill the silence.

The silence didn't last very long anyway.

"Alright! Enough chit chat. I told you guys we were going to celebrate, and celebrate we shall!," Tony announced, ushering them all towards the parking lot, "Everybody meet at my place so we can get this party started!"

Everyone piled into their respective cars and Clint turned to Steve and Bucky. "Mind if I catch a ride with you guys?"

"Sure, hop in.", Steve said as he climbed into the drivers seat.

The trio pulled out of the parking lot and began driving towards Tony's place.

As they got closer, Bucky got a strange sense of deja vu.

_Flashback_

_Bucky stared up in awe at the huge building towering above him. _

_The sunlight glinted against the metal doors, the Stark Industries logo emblazoned across the glass._

_A woman who he assumed must be some assistant greet them as they went inside._

_"You must be General Barnes. Follow me and I'll lead you to our developmental and testing facilities", she said walking down the hall._

_He followed her through a series of corridors before stepping across the threshold into a pristine lab room._

_"You can wait here, will be joining you shortly", the sharply dressed woman said, addressing Bucky's father._

_Bucky forced himself not to roll his eyes at the fake smile plastered across her face. Instead he looked around the room, taking in his surroundings._

_The lab was bigger than he expected it to be, which was surprising. Based on the sheer size of Stark Tower Bucky had expected it to be pretty big._

_All kinds of state of the art lab equipment was set up around the room, machines whirring as they calculated and analyzed data. Bucky was so distracted by everything in the room he barely noticed walking into the lab._

_"Howard, its good to see you again."_

_Bucky snapped back to reality at the sound of his father's voice._

_"Likewise, General Barnes."_

_"This is my son, James."_

_Bucky quickly straightened his spine. He almost couldn't help it when his father was around. He held out his one good arm to shake hands. _

_"Its nice to meet you sir."_

_"Don't worry kid, we'll have you walking out of here with a brand new arm in no time."_

"Holy shit, I've been here before!"

"What?" Both Steve and Clint turned to look at him.

"I've been here in Stark tower before!"

"What are you talking about?", Clint piped up from the back seat.

"When I had my prosthetic arm made this is where I came for all the testing and modifications."

"Wait a minute, so your prosthetic was made by Stark Industries?", Steve asked, his brow furrowed in confusion as he shifted his eyes between Bucky and the road.

"Yeah, remember the weapons manufacturer friend of my Dad's that I told you about? Well the genius who came up with design and put it together was Howard Stark."

"Tony's dad built you a robot arm?!" Clint shouted, leaning forward between the two front seat.

Bucky whipped around to face him.

"Tony is Howard Stark's son?!"

Bucky wasn't even sure if either Clint or Steve responded. He was too busy processing this new information.

Now that he thought about it, Bucky was mystified as to how he hadn't realized it before. Tony was the spitting image of Howard Stark, not to mention the same last name, area of NY, and genius intellect.

"So if Tony's a billionaire, why isn't he going to some fancy private school on the upper east side?", Bucky asked.

"Howard believes in working for what you have. He wanted Tony to get himself into a good school and Tony would never be able to stick to the rules of a private school. SHIELD was sort of a compromise. They usually only take the best in specific subjects, it's why we're so used to winning."

"Maybe all this has something to do with why Tony is so annoyed with you all the time.", Clint mused.

"See! I told you I wasn't reading into things! Even Clint knows he doesn't like me."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just try and make nice at the party. You need more friends anyway."


	6. A Party and a Heart to Heart

Bucky hadn't realized that when Tony said everybody was invited, he literally meant everybody.

It seemed that anyone who had been at the game, was now crammed somewhere among the massive crowd of teenagers in Stark Tower.

AC/DC was playing loudly from the surround sound speakers, vibrating in Bucky's ears.

He had lost sight of all his friends a while ago, and was now busy weaving his way through drunk high school students in hope of finding someone he knew.

"Hey man!"

Bucky spun around, hoping to see Steve but instead Sam Wilson, one of the guys from the football team.

"Hey Sam."

"Why the long face? You need to loosen up. This is supposed to be a party! Here have a beer!", he said, pushing a red plastic cup into his hands.

'Well it's not like I'm leaving anytime soon," Bucky thought, taking a sip of the beer.

"Have you seen Steve or Clint anywhere?"

Sam shook his head. "No, but I'll help you look", he said pushing his way into the crowd.

About ten minutes later Sam nudged Bucky's shoulder and pointed to where the archery team was standing over by the snack table. "Clint should be over there, I'll see you later."

"Thanks for the help", Bucky called after him before walking over to Clint.

"Hey Clint.

"Barnes. Enjoying the party?"

"I guess. It's not really my scene. Everybody sorta disappeared after we got here and this place is huge so I've kind of just been wandering around."

Clint nodded in agreement.

"Tony's parties have a way of making all the cliques dissolve into three new groups. Drunk, barely drinking, and totally sober", he said pointing them out as he talked.

"If you're looking for Steve I'm sure you can guess which side he'll be on. You might want to dump that first though," he said with a grin and a nod towards Bucky's cup.

"Thanks for the help man. See you at school."

Bucky began making his way over to the other side of the room when suddenly the music cut off and the lights turned back on.

"What the hell is happening here?"

Was that— yup, Howard Stark.

The mass of teenagers slowly unfroze and began edging their way towards the door as Tony stumbled through the crowd.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"I live here. Do you want to explain why there are a hundred drunk teenagers in my tower?", he asked furiously.

"We were trying to have a celebration before you so rudely interrupted", Tony replied, voice laced with sarcasm.

"Everybody out!"

Bucky didn't bother waiting around. He followed the crowd out the door.

"Bucky!"

He turned around to see Steve jogging over to him.

"Hey Steve."

"Hey. So um, that sort of thing usually doesn't happen by the way. I normally don't even bother coming to these things but it was the first win of the season and — is that beer?"

Whoops. Bucky hadn't had the chance to dump it before coming outside.

"Um, I just had a little."

"Buck, you know we aren't supposed to drink", Steve said exasperatedly.

"I know, I know, I was just getting into the spirit of things. Won't happen again."

"Well, we better get going, my mom is going to be done with her shift at the hospital soon."

"I think I'm gonna walk. Clear my head and get some fresh air before we get back."

"You sure?", Steve asked skeptically.

"Yeah, you go ahead and I'll meet you back home."

"Alright just be careful", Steve said before turning towards his parked car.

Bucky stayed put for a little while, watching all the cars leave until he was the last one there.

He was about to start walking when he heard someone come out of the towers back entrance

"Cyborg? What are you still doing here?"

"Oh I'm hi Tony. I was just about to leave", Bucky said, kicking at the sidewalk with the toe of his shoe.

"What's the matter? Didn't want to say hi to my dad?"

Bucky sighed. "Look Tony, I didn't even realize that you were related until we got to the tower tonight."

"Yeah, I know.

I wasn't expecting him to be home today. He's always working.

He doesn't have time for me,

but apparently he has to to help some random 1 armed army brat... No offense."

"None taken."

A silence fell over the two and for a second Bucky was sure if he should take that as his cue to leave.

"He used to talk about you a lot y'know."

"What?", Bucky said, startled.

"My dad. He used to talk about this amazing kid who was overcoming a 'terrible tradgedy' and 'would go on to do great things'.

Then after that all he could talk about was his design for your cybernetic arm and what it could do for the medical world. As if he's the only genius in the family.

I've built my own AI y'know."

Bucky didn't know but he was still impressed.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I have yet to accomplish any 'great things'."

Tony snorted. "You say it like its bound to happen in the future", he said, seemingly returning to his normal self.

Bucky let out a chuckle. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Anyway I better get going.

"Yeah, probably. Oh and Barnes, never breathe a word of this to anyone, or else I'll have to hire Barton to kill you", Tony said with a smirk before turning to go back into the tower.

'Well that went surprisingly well', he thought to himself.

Bucky continued his trek down the sidewalk but stopped when he saw a flash of red across the street.

Bucky jogged across the road and stopped behind the red head in front of him. "Hey Natasha."

She turned around and Bucky was surprised to see a ring of black surrounding her right eye.

"Hey James", she said with a nod.

"Are you ok? What happened to your eye?"

"Oh this?", she said reaching up to touch her eye. "I was trying to get a box out of my closet and I accidentally dropped it on my self.", she chuckled.

"Ouch. Hopefully it didn't hurt too bad.

Did you take care of whatever you need to do after the game?"

"Uh yeah, all taken care of. What are you doing out so late anyway?"

"I just came back from Tony's party. I was gonna walk back to clear my head. You?"

"I was just about to leave to catch the subway home. You might want do that to if you want to get back before Steve sends out a rescue team.", she said with a knowing smile.

"Shit you're right. I didn't even realize how late it was."

"Don't worry. You can come with me. We're going in the same direction anyway."

She linked his arm in his and confined down the sidewalk.

* * *

**AN: Hope you liked it. Some reviews would be great before the next chapter!**

**I'm also looking for a beta reader so please message me if you're interested.**


	7. What to do

"Are you seriously still mad at me?"

Steve said nothing and just continued his stride down the hallway.

"Seriously Steve, you can't ignore me forever. We're living in the same house!"

Steve stopped and spun on his heel to face Bucky. "You could have texted me to let me know you were on your way back. You were still out for over an hour after I left."

"I know, I just got side tracked."

"You're just lucky my mom wasn't home when you got back. What were you doing anyway?"

"Ran into Tony as I was about to leave, so we talked for a while, cleared up some animosity I guess."

"Really that's great! I knew you two could be friends!", Steve said, visibly brightening.

"We're not best friends or anythin' Steve, just a little more friendly", Bucky said as they approached the lunch table.

"Oh come on Barnes, I thought we were besties now!", Tony said as he came up behind them, wedging himself in between the two boys and throwing his arms over there shoulders.

Bucky shrugged off Tony's arm as the trio sat a the table, the last to arrive.

"Hey guys", Pepper greeted them as Tony placed a kiss on her cheek.

Bucky and Steve nodded hello to the rest of the table. His eyes lingered on Natasha a bit longer. Her black eye was barely even noticeable which means either she heals ridiculously fast or she must've covered it up.

He glanced back down at his food when she caught him staring.

"Uh, so are you guys doing doing anything after school?", Bucky asked quickly.

"Student Council meeting", Pepper replied.

"Me, Tony, and Jane are working on our science fair project", said Bruce.

"Hey, I'm helping too!", Darcy piped up.

"I shall be conditioning for the upcoming wrestling try outs!", Thor responded gleefully.

"Okay so what about you two?", Bucky said with a nod in the Natasha and Clint's direction.

"Archery practice."

"Gymnastics."

"Guess it just you and me Steve."

"Actually Buck, I have art club today, remember?"

"Are you not doing any extracurriculars?", Pepper asked.

"Not really."

"Dude how did you even get into this school?",Clint joked. "Maybe you should try out a couple clubs, some sports, see if you like anything."

"That's not a bad idea, actually. Is there anything you're particularly good at?", Natasha asked.

"I'm not sure, I've never really stayed in one place long enough to try anything out."

"I'm sure you'll find something Buck.", Steve said patting him on the back.

"Clint and I only have practice for an hour today so we can hang out afterwards if you want", Natasha offered.

"Yeah, that sounds good.", Bucky smiled gratefully.

"Ok, we'll text you when we're done. C'mon Clint, I need to go to the library to print out my report.", she said. The two of the got up and left the cafeteria.

"See Bucky", Steve said, nudging him with his elbow, "You don't need a wingman."

"Whatever man, its not like that. Clint's coming too."

"Yeah I know. I might join you too if art club lets out early enough."

A few hours after Bucky left school, his phone buzzed with a text message.

'Hey it's Clint. We're done with practice so you can meet us at the pizzeria on the corner of 32nd.'

He saved the number and began walking towards the pizza place.

"Hey Bucky wait up!"

Steve jogged down the sidewalk and stopped next to Bucky,hands on his knees huffing and puffing.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, club let out early and Clint texted me so I came to meet up with you."

The two boys continued down the street before stopping out side of a little shop with 'Coulson's Pizza' written in flowing script on the awning above them.

Clint and Natasha were leaning against the brick on the other side.

"Hey, you guys ready to go in?", Bucky asked them.

"Yup."

They followed Clint and Natasha in but Bucky accidentally bumped into Natasha's back when they suddenly stopped short.

"Oops, sorry, I didn't mean..."

He trailed off when he noticed she wasn't looking at him but at Clint who was still frozen to the spot.

He followed Clint's line of sight to a lanky blond guy across the room.

"That's... Barney", Clint stuttered.

Bucky turned to look at Steve who had his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Are you going to talk to him?", Natasha asked.

"I-I guess I have to"

"Want back up?"

"No, you guys go sit. I'll be right back."

Natasha brought them over to a booth by the window occasionally glancing back at Clint.

"Who Barney?"

"Barney is Clint's brother.

They haven't talked in years since he ran away", she replied.

"Wow, what are the odds they'd run into each other here."

She opened her mouth to reply when Clint ran past them and out the door.

"Well, looks like that went well", she deadpanned.


End file.
